Easy as Pi
by FrostShadowStar
Summary: Professionals do no fall in love. And most definitely not with their nemesis. Too bad life says otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

There was always more to the story, the world wasn't black and white, never judge a book by it's cover...the list went on. But as an agent, some of those sayings, the ones that said stuff along the lines of 'more than meets the eye', were dangerous.

You couldn't afford to look at the world and see gray. You couldn't afford to get to know someone beyond that initial first glance. There was only good and evil. You were either fighting to protect the rights of the free world or fighting to take them away. There was no gray.

There had been cases, where an agent had gone beyond what was expected or looked past the rules and regulations and found gray. Sometimes, sometimes the cases went well. The agent was able to help guide their nemesis back to the light. To good. And that was really great. It was. But...more often than not, finding the gray in a world that was supposed to be black and white was problematic. The agent would sympathize, they wouldn't fight as hard, hold back. Their opponent would eventually pick up on this and, more often than not, use it to their advantage and _destroy_ the agent.

And sometimes, a rare, weird thing would occur. Agent and scientist would blur everything together. Black, white, gray, everything, and fall for each other. It wasn't unheard of, but it caused an enormous amount of paperwork for the home office. So, to make things easier, a new rule was enforced among the agencies. Getting too close to your nemesis equaled termination.

It was a simple, easy rule. It made sense, after all, how could one do their job if they were emotionally compromised doing it?

And most of the time, the rule wasn't really needed. For most agents it was just plain common sense. And the idea of falling in love with your nemesis? Laughable. To them, the rule might as well be 'don't run with scissors' for how useful it was.

But; there was always that rare, special case. Where an agent found the gray in a black and white world. And with it, trouble.

**A/N: I know I should be updating After...(and trust me, I will, soon, hopefully...we'll see how well my brain works later) but this little tale wouldn't quite leave me alone. Welp. That's the problem when you get hooked on obscure ships no one gives a hoot about.**


	2. Chapter 2

Just as Perry the Platypus was arguably the best agent in the OWCA, Lyla Lolliberry was the best in COWCA.

Normally, it took a regular human agent five years to get through the training academy. She did it in three. Her rather unorthodox methods made the rigorous training exercises and mind bending challenges seem like something from an elementary school track and field day.

So on the day when she was assigned a nemesis, she was actually somewhat disappointed by the guy's file. His hair was up in some weird obscure hairdo, and he was only charged for one criminal activity. 

"Bannister Sir? I uh, don't mean to be rude, but the guy seems a little low key. I mean, stealing flags? That doesn't seem like something COWCA should really be bothering with."

Sergeant Simile gave her a stern look. "Bannister may not seem like much, but, he has done enough to warrant our attention. True, stealing flags isn't that evil. But it was the way he did it. Slyly enough without drawing our immediate attention and by using robots. By the time we had an idea of who was behind the theft, it was nearly four months after the first flag's disappearance. By that time he was already onto the third step of his plan. The man is unorthodox and we need an agent who is unorthdox themselves and clever enough to put a stop to his plans before he can move ahead to more phases. We need you to keep an eye on him and foil him before he can even say Oh Canada. Is that clear Agent Lolliberry?''

"Yes Sir."

And, while she wasn't entirely happy with the situation, Lyla grew to hate the man. He had little to no patriotic pride in his country, was clever as a rat, and was lazy to boot. In the few times she actually got to see him in person, Bannister never raised a finger to stop her himself. Instead, he relied on hired mooks and deadly robots. Which was a waste in her opinion. Clearly, he had enough berth and strength to do it himself (he was certainty broad enough). But instead, he was just too lazy to actually fight himself.

By the time she was assigned a teamup with the highly praised Agent P of the American branch, Lyla had been on Bannister's tail for at least a year. But not once had she been as close to him as she was on his helicopter. Sure she had stopped his schemes, but the traitorous Canadian had always managed to evade capture. But not today. There was no where that snake could run, they were in air! And, there were no robots in sight, which meant for once she could thwart him nice and proper.

Only. Bannister still had a surprise or two up his sleeves. Firstly, he wasn't Canadian. Which, as shocking as that reveal was, made some sense on why he was so set on stealing whatever made Canada special. The second big shock of the day was when he took off that labcoat. She had always assumed the reason it looked so tight on him was because he was too big for it. In actuality, the coat was probably bigger than he was. Bannister was as skinny as a pole and looked as if one good strong breeze could blow him over.

...and he apparently had a big enough ego to make robots in his image. What a stuck up _git_.

And while she and Agent P were fighting his robots, what was he doing? Sitting in a chair and watching them. Most likely to gloat in the off chance his metal clones actually beat them. Stuck up and arrogant. Ugh she hated that combination in a person. So when they eventually caught him, there were no feelings lost on her side as she watched Bannister finally being carted off to jail. In fact, it had felt really good to see him being placed in the COWCA truck. And his surly expression? Icing on the cake.

That whole incident had happened almost two months ago, and she was enjoying her time off from chasing Bannister all over the country. Currently, she was waiting in line at a Jim Mortins for a cup of coffee and maybe one of their world famous doughnuts before heading off to COWCA to see if there were any scientists without a nemesis stirring up anything.

Unlike the OWCA in America, COWCA didn't have an abundance of scientists that needed a consistent agent fighting them on a regular basis. There were special cases that needed a nemesis (around five came to mind), but for the most part, it was mainly patrolling and whichever agent was nearest was sent to deal with whoever was planning to send Canada into a second ice age this week.

After paying for her coffee, Lyla turned and bumped into the guy behind her. Either she wasn't paying attention to where she was going or he was too eager to place his order to wait for her to pass or it was a combination of the two, the result was the same. She'd just spilled her hot coffee all over his sweater.

"Ooooh sorry bout that buddy, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Clearly."

"Yeah...uh, why don't I buy your drink? Since I have to rebuy my own anyways and I bumped into you and all. That fine with you?"

"I...guess so. Thanks. But really Ma'am, watch where you're going next time!" He groaned as he studied his sweater. "It's going to take _ages_ for me to get this stain out!"

Privately, Lyla thought it was best if the guy just tossed that one and got a new one. It was sorta ugly in her opinion. Bright green with a 'I' a heart and a magnet in a vertical line. What was that supposed to stand for? I love magnets? But she wasn't one to criticize anyone's taste in fashion. So, instead of offering her honest opinion, she tried advice.

"Why don't you find a table and some napkins? I'll find you with our drinks k?"

"Sure. I'd like a regular coffee with a handful of sugar."

And without another word, the guy headed off to find a table for them. _Wow rude._ Though almost as soon as she thought those words, Lyla regretted them. After all, she barely knew the guy so she really couldn't pass a decent judgment on him. And who knew how grouchy she'd be if some stranger had dumped their drink all over her.

Though, as she paid for their drinks and spotted him sitting at an empty table, she couldn't shake the feeling she knew him from somewhere. But she was sure she'd recognize him if she did. After all, how many people did she know had long hair tied back in a ponytail? Certainly plenty of girls but guys? No, she didn't think so.

Sitting in the chair across from him, Lyla handed him his coffee and discreetly studied him as she took a sip from her own cup. He had glasses. And dark blue eyes. Again, she felt like she should know him but she just couldn't imagine from where.

"Do I know you?"

Lyla stared at him, surprised. She had just about to ask that question. "I don't think so...but you seem familiar to me to. Maybe we went to school together."

The guy frowned. "I don't think so...I just moved here not too long ago so unless you attended Greenheart High School or the university in Sydney Australia, I don't think we've met."

Lyla shook her head. She hadn't attended either of those schools. Weird. He really felt like someone she should know. Gaze drifting as she tried to think of where else they could have possibly met, her eyes fell across a clock.

Pulling out from the table as if it had suddenly became electrified, Lyla grabbed her cup and offered the guy (who seemed a little alarmed by her sudden behavior) an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go, or else I'll be late for work. Maybe I'll see you around the next time I get a coffee."

"Without spilling it on me I hope?"

She laughed. "Yeah. Maybe. See you later!"

It wasn't until she was halfway to work that she realized she'd never asked what his name was. Or remembered to brush her hair this morning. Uggggh, that's what she got for forgetting to set her alarm.


End file.
